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Description:
Utilizing a collective case study design, I examined and described the filial therapy (FT) process and adaptations discovered to be necessary and unnecessary in working with families who have a child with a life-threatening illness in the hospital setting. Data from a total of 7 parents was utilized, including those who terminated early, in order to gain a greater understanding of adapting FT for families who have a child with a life-threatening illness and their participation patterns. The parents attended 10 one- to two-hour FT sessions. The data was analyzed to examine for themes, patterns and relationships intrinsically with each case participant, as well as across cases. Analysis indicated that parents with a child with a life-threatening illness had great difficulty committing to attend FT; and a high rate of attrition occurred for those who did commit. A theme regarding flexibility was found to be of eminent importance in a variety of manifestations including therapeutic methods, session format, location and time of sessions, and intense vs traditional FT. Therapeutic adaptations in flexibility found to be important including openness to cathartic and personal parenting sessions, tolerance of forgetfulness, and lowering typical therapeutic concerns of dependency in the relationship. An inability for parents in this situation to benefit from intense FT methods was also noted. Changes noted in the child of focus included increased confidence, increased cooperation in the medical setting, increased communication with the parent and with medical staff regarding medical issues, and increased communication with the parent regarding personal feelings and issues. Changes noted in the parents included increased confidence in parenting skills, increased awareness of the child's perceptions of the environment, increased tolerance in allowing the child to struggle in and out of the medical setting, with both emotional and physical pain in order to gain coping skills, increased ...

Description:
Multicultural education in counselor education is a popular topic among counselor educators and scholars. To date, scholars have focused on understanding the experiences of counselor educators who teach dedicated multicultural courses. However, less attention has been given to other counselor educators who are required by ethical and training standards to address multicultural issues across the curriculum. The purpose of this study was to understand counselor educators’ experiences addressing multicultural issues in courses that do not have a specific multicultural or diversity focus. I used phenomenological methodology to explore the experiences of counselor educators who hold doctoral degrees in counseling or a related field, have taken a multicultural/diversity course in their graduate training, are full-time clinical or tenure-line faculty members in CACREP-accredited programs, and have never taught courses dedicated to multicultural or diversity issues. Twelve participants (six men and six women), ranging in age ranged from 31 to 65, participated in the study. Ten participants identified as White, one African-American, and one Hispanic. The research team identified eight themes: (1) reasons for avoidance, (2) constraints, (3) qualities and practices, (4) educator as a factor in student development, (5) infusion, (6) personal background, (7) awareness of biases and assumptions, and (8) counselor educator responsibility/gatekeeping. Findings from this study will add to the literature regarding infusion of multicultural issues across the curriculum. Additionally, the implications offered will serve as a resource for counselor educators as they experience unique personal and professional challenges when addressing multicultural issues in classrooms beyond the main multicultural or diversity course offered in counseling programs. Implications for this study may lead to development of more focused guidelines on how to increase the increase the comfort of counselor educators as they facilitate multicultural discussions and assist counselors-in-training in working toward cultural competence.

Description:
Approximately 20% of children experience serious mental health problems severe enough to meet diagnosis criteria, and less than one third of these children receive the services they need. Identifying effective school-based counseling interventions provides a viable and accessible solution, especially for families with financial barriers. This randomized, controlled outcome study examined the effectiveness of Adlerian play therapy (AdPT) compared to reading mentoring (RM) with 58 kindergarten through third grade students who qualified with clinical levels of disruptive behavior in the classroom. Participants were identified as 48% Latino, 33% European American, and 19% African American. Approximately four-fifths of participants were male. Children were randomly assigned to AdPT (experimental group) or RM (active control group) for 16 sessions of treatment. Children in both groups participated in twice weekly, individual, 30-minute interventions that took place in their schools. Results from a two (group) by two (repeated measures) split plot ANOVA indicated that, compared to the RM group over time, the AdPT group demonstrated statistically significant improvement on (a) disruptive behaviors in the classroom, as directly observed by objective raters and as reported by teachers, and (b) stress in the teacher-child relationship, as reported by teachers. Teachers and observers were blinded to children's treatment group assignment. AdPT demonstrated moderate to large effect sizes on all measures, indicating the practical significance of treatment. Further, 72% of children receiving AdPT improved from clinical/borderline levels of disruptive behavior problems to more normative functioning post-intervention, demonstrating the clinical significance of results. Whereas further research is warranted, results from this preliminary study are promising and support the use of AdPT in elementary schools to meet the needs of children exhibiting disruptive classroom behavior.

Description:
Child-centered play therapists are taught unique relationship building approaches and therapeutic methods to utilize when working with children. The purpose of this study was to determine if adult clients counseled by child-centered play therapists would demonstrate greater positive therapeutic outcomes than adult clients who were counseled by non-educated child-centered play therapists. This study also attempted to determine if the play therapists' clients would show greater, significant improvement in any particular areas of client distress (i.e., depression/anxiety, relationship issues), more so than the clients of the non-play therapists. Archival data from an assessment, The Adult Self-Report Inventory (ASR), was gathered to measure reported pre and post-test client symptomology. This study utilized a 2X2 repeated measure ANOVA design to analyze the impact of counselors who were educated in child-centered play therapy who saw adult clients, versus their non-play therapy counterparts who saw adult clients. Before treatment pre-test and after treatment post-test administration was collected for use in the analysis. The population consisted of 60 adult clients seeking counseling services at a major university in the southwest. All clients were seen by Master's practicum students for ten sessions. The clients were divided into two groups - 30 were seen by play therapists, 30 were seen by non-play therapists. Five scales on the ASR were measured using a 2x2 split-plot design and Eta squared. There were three independent variables: group, measurement occasion, and the interaction between group and measurement. The results of this study did not reveal any statistical significance. However, clinical significance was demonstrated as the play therapists' clients did report greater reductions in symptomology on all five scales, some more than others.

Description:
The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of ABC on adaptive functioning in high school males. Specifically, a pretest/posttest, experimental design (N = 46; Caucasian = 26, Hispanic = 20) was used to examine the changes in adaptive and maladaptive functioning in ABC participants (n = 21) compared to those in a control/waitlist group (n = 25) as measured by the Behavior Assessment System for Children, second edition (BASC-2). Participants randomly assigned to the treatment group engaged in 10 ABC sessions. In order to better understand group process in ABC, I had experimental group participants complete the Group Climate Question Short form (GCQ-S) three times during the intervention. A mixed between/within subjects ANOVA of the BASC-2 scores revealed a statistically significant increase in adaptive functioning for both groups, F(1, 33) = 8.58, p < .01, with a partial eta squared of .21 indicating a large effect. There was no statistically significant difference between the experimental and control/waitlist groups, F(1, 33) = .064, p = .80, and a very small effect size (partial eta squared < .01). A repeated measures ANOVA of the GCQ-S scores revealed a statistically significant increase in engagement, F(2, 38) = 4.067, p = .025, with an eta squared of .21, indicating a large effect. Limitations of the study, implications of the results for practice, and recommendations for future research are presented.

Description:
The purpose of this study was to develop an effective formal instrument to assess the Adlerian personality priorities. The development of the Allen Assessment for Adlerian Personality Priorities, AAAPP, seeks to provide a strong comparability to assessing the Adlerian construct of personality priorities as the counselor interview. One hundred and seven participants were given the 1st administration of the AAAPP, Social Interest Scale and a demographic survey. Sixty-four participants completed a 2nd administration of the AAAPP two weeks later. Twenty participants experienced a counseling interview following the 2nd administration. The methods used to evaluate the validity and effectiveness of the AAAPP included: face validity, predictive validity, construct validity, test-retest reliability, multiple regression, Guttman split-half reliability and the Spearman Brown reliability.

Description:
Mental health courts (MHCs) are part of an umbrella of specialty courts in which court officials, law enforcement, and treatment providers work together to seek alternative solutions to failed traditional approaches to justice. Researchers investigating MHCs indicated that the courts may be helpful in reducing recidivism and introducing offenders with mental health disorders to treatment services. I used the qualitative method of phenomenology to understand the experiences of young adult Black male clients' perceptions of mental health treatment in MHCs. Twelve participants ranged in age from 21-40 years. The research team identified three themes -- (a) helpful treatment factors, (b) relational growth, (c) treatment barriers – and five subthemes: (a) internal growth, (b) relational growth, (c) behavioral growth, (d) factors of marginalization, and (e) interpersonal barriers. Meaning pertaining to findings and implications for research and practice are discussed.

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Description:
To date, researchers who have explored the complexity of childhood bereavement have utilized unstandardized assessment instruments and/or have independently evaluated specific constructs rather than factoring in the dimensionality of loss. The purpose of this study was to use parents' completion of established instruments--the Child Behavior Checklist and the Parenting Stress Index--to examine the multivariate shared relationship between characteristics of bereaved children referred for counseling--their ages, genders, ethnicities, types of loss, and life stressors--and their behavioral manifestations as well as the relationship between these characteristics and levels of parent-child relational stress. Utilizing archival clinical files, I examined these characteristics from bereaved children (N = 98) whose parents sought counseling services from two university-based counseling clinics. The sample consisted of 67 boys and 31 girls between the ages 3 and 11 years old (M = 6.28). The majority of participants (67%, n = 66) identified as Caucasian, 10% (n = 10) as African American, 10% (n = 10) as Hispanic/Latino, 6% as Bi-racial (n = 6), 4% as Native American (n = 4), and 2% as Asian (n = 2). A canonical correlational analyses (CCA) was conducted to examine relationship between characteristics of children and their subsequent behavioral manifestations. The full model was found to be statistically significant using the Wilks’s λ = .611 criterion, F(25, 328.41) = 1.862, p = .008. The R2 type effect size was .389, which indicates the full model explains about 39% of the variance shared between the two variable sets. A second CCA was conducted to explore the relationship between characteristics of bereaved children and levels of parent-child relational stress. The full model was found statistically to be significant using the Wilks’s λ = .790 criterion, F(10, 154) = 1.926, p = .045. The R2 type effect size was .210, which indicates the full model explains ...

Description:
Pre-tenured faculty in higher education and as well as mothers have reportedly struggled with low wellness levels, high demands, little social support, and an imbalance of work and home life. Mothers in higher education and in counselor education have reported struggling with work-life balance, high scholarly productivity, and long hours as well as the emotional and physical energy demands of working with counselors-in-training. A search of the professional literature revealed a paucity of quantitative research regarding demographic characteristics, wellness levels, and social support levels of mothers among counselor education faculty (MCEs). Participants for this study were faculties of counselor education programs recruited from the Holland List of Counseling Programs and from the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs online directory. A total of 180 MCEs participated (aged 29-63, with mean age 40.6 years; 83% Caucasian, 8% other, 5% African American, 3% Hispanic, <1% Asian). Results showed that faculty rank did not account for a significant difference among wellness scores of MCEs and that reported social support, tenure or non-tenure track, number of children in the care of MCEs, number of children under age 8, number of publications, and teaching workload accounted for 14% of the variance in wellness levels of MCEs. Specifically, reported higher teaching workload (β = -.194, rs2 = .35, p = .012) and higher social support (β = -.258, rs2 = .36, p = <.001) were found to be significant predictors of lower wellness levels among MCEs, both with small effects. Based on these results, MCEs may benefit from advocating that their departments and universities adapt to their unique needs to improve their levels of wellness and social support through mentoring, which, in turn, may result in not only their own increased productivity but also their students' increased wellness levels.

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Description:
This research study investigated various characteristics of children in play therapy and their play behaviors during sessions. Specifically, this research investigated how gender, age, ethnicity, household and presenting problem of children impacted the play therapy process. Thirty-two cases of children who received ten or more sessions of play therapy at the Child and Family Resource Clinic, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas between the years of 1998-2002 and met specified criteria were coded and entered into a computer spreadsheet for analysis. The background information provided by the parent/guardian of each child was analyzed using various measures of central tendency to summarize and describe the data sets. The session summary data completed by play therapists at the CFRC was examined using analysis of variance and multivariate analysis of variance. Analysis of variance and multivariate analysis of variance revealed statistical significance between the following variables: a) males and use of dolls (.01), animals (.007) and weapons (.014), and males and expression of happy (.048), confident (.042) curious (.007) and flat (.029) during play therapy sessions; b) young children and use of vehicles (.050) during play therapy sessions; c) Caucasian children and expression of happy (.011), and confident (.008) during play therapy sessions; d) children residing in single parent households and use of hammer (.049) and puppets (.048) during play therapy sessions; and e) a variety of presenting problems and toy use/play behavior, feelings expressed and themes played out during play therapy sessions. Frequency of toy use and emotional expression were also investigated as well as session peaks of toy use, emotions expressed and themes. Analysis revealed that the toys used most often during play therapy sessions included the following categories: sandbox, easel/paints, dolls, weapons, crafts and money. Feelings expressed most often in play therapy sessions included excited, pleased, focused, interested, proud, curious, ...

Description:
This study examined if there were characteristic differences between play therapy students and non-play therapy students in training. Specifically, this study was designed to explore what, if any, characteristic differences between play therapy students and non-play therapy students in training exist in the following two areas: (a) personality variables, as measured by the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R) and (b) attitude toward children, and measured by the Barnett's Liking of Children Scale (BLOCS). Additionally, this study examined whether certain personality traits and the general attitude toward children for the play therapy student group correlated with the play therapy students' effectiveness ratings assigned to them by their play therapy supervisors. This study found statistically significant differences at the .05 alpha level between the play therapy (N=105) and non-play therapy students (N=79) in training in both the Extraversion personality trait on the NEO PI-R assessment and attitude toward children on the BLOCS. Non-play therapy students were in the High range for Extraversion, whereas play therapy students in training were in the Average range. According to this finding, play therapy students are less extraverted than non-play therapy students. Specifically, a statistically significant difference occurred on the Gregariousness scale of the Extraversion domain between the play therapy and non-play therapy group. Additionally, the play therapy student group scored a statistically significant higher mean total score on the BLOCS, indicating that play therapy students have a more favorable attitude toward children as compared to non-play therapy students in training. No other statistically significant results were indicated on the other personality scales of the NEO PI-R between the play therapy and non-play therapy students in training group. Statistical significance was found on the BLOCS total mean scores between play therapy students rated as "Highly Effective" and play therapy students rated as "Effective" by their play therapy ...

Description:
The problem with which this investigation was concerned was that of determining the efficacy of child-centered group play therapy with pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children with speech difficulties as an intervention strategy for improving specific speech problems in the areas of articulation, receptive language, and expressive language. A second purpose was that of determining the efficacy of child-centered group play therapy in improving self-esteem, positive social interaction, and in decreasing anxiety and withdrawal behaviors among pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children with speech difficulties. The experimental group consisted of 11 children who received 25 group play therapy sessions one time a week in addition to their directive speech therapy sessions. The comparison group consisted of 10 children who received only their directive speech therapy sessions. The Goldman Fristoe Test of Articulation, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test - Revised, and the Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals - 3 were used to measure receptive and expressive language skills. The Burks' Behavior Rating Scale was used to measure symptoms of anxiety, withdrawal, poor self-esteem, and poor social skills as observed by parents and teachers. Twelve hypotheses were tested using ANCOVA and Eta Squared. Child-centered group play therapy was shown to have a large practical significance in helping children improve their expressive language skills. Child-centered group play therapy was shown to have a medium practical significance in increasing children's receptive language skills. Small sample size may have contributed to the lack of statistical significance as calculated by the analysis of covariance. Child-centered group play therapy was shown to have a small yet positive impact upon children's articulation skills and anxiety. Although not significant at the .05 level, these results indicate a slightly larger increase in articulation skills and a slightly larger decrease in symptoms of anxiety among those children who received group play therapy as compared to ...

Description:
The shortage of bilingual counselors is one barrier to young Latina/o children receiving mental health services. Child-centered play therapy (CCPT) is a developmentally responsive intervention based on the premise that play is children's natural means of communication across cultures. This randomized controlled study examined the effects of CCPT with young Spanish-speaking Latina/o children exhibiting clinical levels of school behavior problems. Participants were 57 pre-K to kindergarten Latina/o children (72% male; mean age = 4.0) randomly assigned to three treatment groups: CCPT with Spanish-speaking, bilingual counselors; CCPT with English-speaking, monolingual counselors; or active control (bilingual mentoring). Monolingual counselors participated in cultural competency training and supervision with bilingual counselors and supervisors. According to independent observers and teachers blinded to children's group assignment, both the bilingual CCPT group and the monolingual CCPT group demonstrated moderate treatment effects over bilingual mentoring, yet between-group differences were not statistically significant. Analysis of within-group change over time indicated that children in both CCPT interventions demonstrated statistically significant improvement, while the mentoring group did not. The percentage of children in each treatment group who improved from clinical to normal behavioral functioning suggests the clinical significance of the findings: 80% bilingual CCPT, 70% monolingual CCPT, 15% bilingual mentoring. Overall, findings indicate that CCPT, whether delivered by bilingual counselors or culturally-competent, monolingual counselors, is a promising intervention for young Latina/o children exhibiting behavior problems.

Description:
Child-centered play therapy (CCPT) is an empirically supported and developmentally appropriate counseling intervention for young children. Despite the clinical effectiveness of CCPT with children, no known study has been conducted in which parents were surveyed or interviewed regarding the services they have received as a part of their children’s participation in CCPT. Therefore, this study was designed to gain a better understanding of parents’ reported needs and expectations in CCPT. This study utilized Q-methodology in which participants completed a Q-sort by actively sorting 40 items on a continuum of least important to most important. Items included services and processes regarded by CCPT scholars and child therapy practitioners as being important to working with parents. Data was collected from 19 parents of children receiving CCPT services in a community-based counseling clinic. Participants included 16 females and 3 males; 15 Caucasian and 4 Hispanic; and 14 biological parents, 2 adoptive parents, and 3 other biological caregivers. Data was analyzed using centroid factor analysis, and results revealed a one factor solution representing 18 of the 19 participants. Eighteen parents reported similar beliefs regarding the processes they consider most and least important to their experience in working with child-centered play therapists. In general, parents’ beliefs aligned with CCPT philosophy, particularly in regards to respecting children’s natural pace of development and healing. Furthermore, parents shared preferences for play therapists who demonstrate expert knowledge and training and who understand the individual needs of their children. Discussion includes implications for the practice of CCPT and training of future play therapists, limitations of the study, and implications for future research.

Description:
Child centered play therapy (CCPT) is a therapeutic intervention that provides the environment for children to work through and heal from difficult experiences through expression of play and therapeutic relationship. It has been demonstrated effective with multiple types of disruptive behaviors. I conducted single-case research to explore CCPT's influence on children who had four or more adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and provided analysis of data collected from one assessment administered weekly and one assessment at pre-, mid-, and post-intervention: the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire and the Trauma Symptoms Checklist for Young Children. The two participants (one 8-year-old White American male and one 9-year-old White American female) demonstrated significant improvement in total difficulties and prosocial behaviors. The study revealed potential therapeutic benefits for utilizing CCPT with children who had four or more ACEs. Encompassed in discussion of study results are implications for practice, suggestions for future research, and limitations.

Description:
Aggressive behaviors in childhood currently serve as the leading cause of counselor referrals within the United States. Children exhibiting maladaptive aggressive symptomology are at an increased risk for highly externalized and problematic behaviors across the lifespan. Emotional self-regulation and empathy are two constructs currently believed to be closely related to aggression, but a lack of research exploring these variables currently exists in the counseling literature. In this study I examined the effect of child-centered play therapy (CCPT), is a manualized, developmentally responsive, and nondirective intervention, on these variables. Participants were 71 students from four Title 1 elementary schools in the southwest U.S. referred by teachers for aggressive behavior (12 females, 59 males; age range 5-10 years with mean age 6.28. The sample consisted of 52.1% (n = 37) children identified as African American, 21.1% (n = 15) as Latina/Latino, 19.7% (n = 14) as Caucasian, and 7% as multiracial (n = 5). Participants were randomly assigned to 8 weeks of a twice-weekly CCPT experimental group (n = 36) or a waitlist control group (n = 35). Results of descriptive discriminant analyses (DDA) of the Social Emotional Assets and Resilience Scale and the Children’s Aggression Scale scores revealed that parents perceived children’s group membership in CCPT as significant and reasonably predictive of improvement in children’s aggression, self-regulation, and empathy. However, teachers did not perceive a statistically significant difference between the two groups with respect to these variables. These results suggest the relevancy of CCPT for parents in providing children with a developmentally responsive intervention to reduce aggressive behaviors and support their healthy development.

Description:
For the past 40 years, one southwestern US university counseling program has sponsored two mental health training clinics in which master's and doctoral level students have learned to provide child parent relationship therapy (CPRT) services to community parents. In their training, students learn about the positive effects of CPRT, particularly on parental stress. To date, however, no program evaluation has been conducted at these clinics focusing specifically on parental stress outcomes after the completion of CPRT or to determine the demographics and characteristics of parents who pursue CPRT. The purpose of this study was to conduct such an evaluation of archival data spanning 7 years. Participants were 129 parents (70% female, 30% male; 80% Caucasian, 35% Hispanic/ Latino, 6% African American, and 4% Asian; 62% married, 9% separated, 16% divorced). Results from a t-test indicated a statistically significant decrease in self-reported parental stress, with a moderate effect size. Multiple regression revealed that women and those who attended with a co-parent reported greater stress reduction. This study confirmed the benefit of CPRT, provided by counselors-in-training, on reducing parental stress and indicated clientele for which and conditions in which those benefits might be optimized.

Description:
This randomized controlled study is a preliminary investigation on the effects of Child-Parent Relationship Therapy (CPRT) with 61 adoptive parents. The participants in this study identified themselves as the following: 54 European American, 3 Black American, 3 Hispanic/Latino, and 1 individual who chose not to indicate ethnicity. The study included 23 couples and 15 individual mothers. The CPRT is a structured, time limited approach that trains caregivers to be an active participant as a therapeutic change agent in their child's life. Results from a two (group) by two (measures) split plot ANOVA indicated that adoptive parents who participated in 10 weeks of CPRT reported statistically significant decreases in child behavior problems and parent child-relationship stress. Statistically significant increases in parent empathy were also reported by raters blinded to the study. CPRT demonstrated a medium to large treatment effect on reducing children's behavior problems and parent-child relationship stress. In addition, CPRT demonstrated a large treatment effect on increasing parental empathy. The results of the study provide preliminary support for CPRT as a responsive intervention for adoptive parents and their children.

Description:
This exploratory study examined the effectiveness of child teacher relationship training (CTRT) with at-risk preschool children exhibiting disruptive behavior. The participants included a total of 23 Head Start teachers and their aides, and children identified by their teachers as exhibiting clinical or borderline levels of externalizing behavior problems. Teacher participants included 22 females and 1 male; demographics were reported as 56% Hispanic ethnicity, 17% Black American, and 22% European American. Child participants included 15 males and 5 females; demographics were reported as 60% Hispanic, 30% Black American, and 10% European American. A 2 by 3 (Group x Repeated Measures) split plot ANOVA was used to analyze the data. According to teacher reports using the Teacher Report Form (C-TRF) and blinded raters’ reports using the Direct Observation Form (DOF) to assess disruptive behaviors, children whose teachers received the CTRT intervention demonstrated statistically significant decreases (p < .05) in externalizing behaviors on the C-TRF and total problems on the DOF from pre- to mid- to post-test, compared to children whose teachers participated in the active control group. The CTRT intervention demonstrated large treatment effects on both measures (C-TRF: ?p2 =.173; DOF: ?p2=.164) when compared to CD, revealing the practical significance of the findings on reducing disruptive behaviors. According to independent raters on the DOF, 90% of children receiving the CTRT intervention moved from clinical levels of behavioral concern to more normative levels of functioning following treatment, establishing the clinical significance of CTRT as an early mental health intervention for preschool children in Head start exhibiting disruptive behavior.

Description:
This study investigated the impact of child teacher relationship training (CTRT) on teachers’ ability to provide emotional support in the classroom, teachers’ use of relationship-building skills, and teachers’ level of stress related to the student-child relationship. Teachers and aides from one Head Start school were randomly assigned to the experimental group CTRT (n = 11) or an active control Conscious Discipline group (CD; n = 12). Overall, 21 females, 11 (CTRT) and 11 (CD), and one male (CD) participated in the study. Participating teachers and aides identified themselves as the following: 13 Hispanic/Latino, 5 Black American, and 5 European American. Teachers and aides identified children with clinical levels of disruptive behavior problems for the purpose of selecting children of focus for the study. The children’s mean age was 3.63 for CTRT group and 3.36 for CD group. Overall, 9 females, 2 (CTRT) and 7 (CD), and 10 males, 6 (CTRT) and 4 (CD) participated in the study. Teachers reported children’s ethnicity: 13 Hispanic/Latino, 5 African American, and 1 other. A two-factor (Treatment x Group) repeated measures split plot ANOVA was utilized to analyze the data with an alpha level of .05. According to objective raters blinded to the study using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) and the Child Teacher Relationship Skills Checklist (CTRT-SC) and teacher reports using Index of Teaching Stress (ITS), results revealed a statistically significant interaction effect for the experimental teachers’ use of child-teacher relationship skills (CTRT-SC: p = .036), a non-statistically significant interaction effect for the experimental teachers’ ability to provide emotional support (CLASS: p = .50), and a non-statistically significant interaction effect on teacher stress (ITS: p = .997). Partial eta squared effect sizes were calculated to determine the practical significance of the findings. Compared to the active control, CTRT demonstrated large treatment effects over ...

Description:
There is a dearth of research available on child services in the community mental health setting in the fields of psychology and counseling. The purpose of this study was to conduct an experimental evaluation of university-based play therapy clinical services with children aged 3 to 10 years old and to explore dimensions of the effectiveness of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) with children. This study examined real-life clinical services to the largest number of child participants in decades of mental health research, especially in the field of play therapy. Archival data from cases of 364 children served through a university-based play therapy clinic in the southwestern United States was examined. The effectiveness of child-centered play therapy (CCPT) was measures by a decrease in a child's behavioral problems perceived by a parent/guardian measured by scores of the Internalizing Problems, Externalizing Problems and Total Problems on the Child Behavioral Checklist (CBCL) and a reduction of parent-child relationship stress manifested in the Child Domain, Parent Domain and Total Stress Score on the Parenting Stress Index (PSI). Data from pretest and posttest was gathered for use in the analysis. Independent samples t-test, repeated measures analysis of variance, and ordinary least squares regression, including effect sizes, were utilized to detect the differences between groups and the treatment effects. After receiving individual CCPT, results of this study demonstrated statistically significant differences on overall CBCL and PSI measures, with the exception on Parent Domain. Additionally, findings highlighted the effectiveness of individual CCPT through demonstrated moderate to large effects over time (partial η2 = .097 to .201). Individual CCPT also revealed very large effects (η2 = .26 to .37) when specifically examined with participants who completed play therapy treatment. Further, statistically significant predictions were found on CBCL and PSI measures, with the exception on Total Problems. Termination and family ...

Description:
Most counselors agree that the therapeutic relationship is essential in counseling. However, the current evidence-based treatment movement has resulted in a focus on treatment protocols and techniques in outcome research. Researchers have called for the inclusion of relationship variables in future outcome research. Child-centered play therapy (CCPT) is an empirically-supported, developmentally responsive intervention for children that emphasizes building a therapeutic relationship based on the philosophy of person-centered theory. Exploring the impact of the relationship on CCPT outcomes would be beneficial, but no current quantitative measure exists for obtaining the child’s view of the therapeutic relationship. The purpose of this study was to create a developmentally appropriate instrument to measure children’s perceptions of the therapeutic relationship. Established instrument development procedures were followed to create the Relationship Inventory for Children (RIC), a 15-item instrument for use in outcome research that measures the child’s perspective of the therapeutic relationship. Participants were 33 child experts who participated in interviews and preliminary testing of the instrument as well as 100 children whose scores on the 31-item pilot instrument were submitted to exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Children (62% male) ranged in age from 6 to 9 years (M = 6.92) and 53% identified as Caucasian, 14% as Hispanic, 14% as African American, 2% as Asian American, 0.8% as Native American, 8% as Multiracial, and 9% unreported. The EFA resulted in three factors: Positive Regard, Unconditional Acceptance, and Empathy. Implications for further development of the RIC, for use of the RIC in research, and for application of the RIC to person-centered theory are discussed.

Description:
This study is a qualitative analysis and a quantitative analysis of all peripheral biofeedback client data files of the University of North Texas Biofeedback Research and Training Laboratory since its establishment in 1991 and through the year of 2002. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the clinical and educational efficacy of the BRTL. Clients' electromyography and temperature measures, self-report of homework relaxation exercises and progress, and the pre- and post-Stress Signal Checklist were reviewed and analyzed. In regard to clinical efficacy, results indicate statistically significant changes in both temperature training and muscle tension training as a whole group. When divided into subtypes based on the clients' primary presenting problem, findings indicate statistical significance in chronic pain, tension headache, and temporomandibular jaw pain on temperature training, and show statistical significance in chronic pain, tension headache, hypertension, migraine headache, stress, and temporomandibular jaw pain on muscle tension training. When analyzing the Stress Signal Checklist, only 25% of clients had complete information on both pre- and post-Stress Signal Checklist. For these 25%, 87.5% reported symptoms decreased. When reviewing the clients' self-reported progress in therapist's session notes, there is no procedure for computing a treatment success to failure ratio due to the inconsistency of therapists in recording clients' statements. This study also identifies three basic biofeedback learning curves that show how people learn self-regulation skills in biofeedback therapy: 1) steady state and trainable (low variability), 2) phasic state and trainable (high variability), and 3) phasic state and low trainable (high variability).

Description:
College counselors today face increasing challenges, with fewer resources than in the past. Little has been known as to whether college counselors take advantage of resources and benefits available through involvement in professional organizations in these increasingly challenging professional times. College counseling center professionals in one state in the Southwest were surveyed regarding their professional organization involvement (N = 152). Participants were selected by targeting specific 4-year institutions with undergraduate populations and specific counseling professionals who work in college counseling centers within these schools. Most college counselors surveyed were involved in professional organizations, and involved in a variety of ways within these organizations. Many professional organizations catering to college counselors were identified. Specific motivations for involvement and hindrances to involvement were identified. In addition, no significant difference was found among the involvement of professional counselors versus psychologists.

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